Can we decide on our own destiny?

Dr. Purushothaman
October 14, 2013

Fate, destiny, and resignation - they all appear to be synonyms up to a certain point but, what if your entire life you've been a fighter and simply refuse to surrender in a certain situation? Can we rebel against our own destiny? Can we truly decide the path that we are going to take in life? Change from our introspections?
These are all questions with no definite or final answer, but nevertheless, everything related to this matter also depends on our determination, and our strength to defeat the obstacles we meet before reaching the ultimate aspiration.
A lot of people, who have been remarkably good at doing something during their lives, including business, sports, science etc, confess that fate seemed to be against them at the beginning and even throughout their careers. Most of them lived completely different lives before being successful and they are proud to remember those times. It was indeed hard, most of them say, but they wanted to get to the top badly; nothing could have held them back from getting where they wanted. They also admit that they never dared to dream they would be so famous or successful in the future.
All these facts make us wonder, whether an apparently pre-established destiny can be modified or completely changed, if we manage to prove we really want something and we are determined to go all the way to get it, no matter what. And if we indeed can change fate, to whom should we demonstrate what we're capable of? Could there be a way to modify the data, which composes the famous book of life, just as easy as correcting something on a computer? And if that is true, how do we know that there wasn't a mistake in the first place, and our determination does not do more than correct it?
Obviously, all that was presented before represents suppositions, nevertheless, since there are different people who testify that their lives changed, this increases our confidence that we can do it too. If we can't control our destiny, we can, at least, contribute to what's happening to us during our existence.
Maybe, although we were supposed to have a less fortunate destiny, if we treat others the right way, if we are always honest and always mind the truth, somehow bad fate will go around us, showing us that we can make our own destiny.
On the other hand, we cannot help wondering what happens to a person who starts off with a wonderful destiny, but during his or her life commits a series of unpardonable mistakes. Will that destiny change?
Could it be true that we actually get the destiny we deserve? Persons who suffer tremendously for having lost somebody dear to them or persons born with a disease or a handicap, will answer no! There are a lot of innocent people in pain, so the theory that we get what we deserve is not always accurate. But what if we have to pay for the errors others committed? Would that make us think deeper before carrying out something we are not really proud of, fearing that some innocent human being will pay, in the future, for our present actions?
There is no doubt that opinions are split when it comes to such a subject. However, meditating on this kind of themes helps us understand ourselves better and, hopefully, gets us closer to appreciating our fate and destiny.

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